[1] For a discussion of human intelligence, see PSYCHOLOGY.
INTENDANT (from Lat. _intendens_, pres. part. of _intendere_, to apply
the mind to, to watch over; cf. "superintendent"), the name used in
early times in France to designate a functionary invested by the king
with an important and durable commission.[1] As early as the 14th
century the title of _intendentes_ or _superintendentes financiarum_ was
given to the commissaries appointed by the king to levy the _aides_, or
temporary subsidies. In the 16th century Francis I. created the
_intendants des finances_, permanent functionaries who formed the
central and superior administration in financial matters. They took the
place of the _generaux des finances_ and the "treasurers of France," who
became provincial functionaries in the various _generalites_. The
_intendants des finances_ existed until the end of the _ancien regime_;
they were at first under the authority of the _surintendant_, and
subsequently under that of the _controleur general des finances_. The
_intendants des provinces_ date from the last thirty years of the 16th
century. They were commissaries sent by the king with wide powers to
restore order in the provinces after the civil wars. Their functions
were at first extraordinary and temporary, but a few were retained as
permanent state officials, and in course of time they came to be fairly
generally distributed over the whole kingdom. The existing territorial
divisions were not disturbed, each _intendant_ being placed over a
_generalite_, save in some cases where slight modifications were
necessary for administrative purposes. In their functions, however,
there is another element worthy of notice. In the 13th and 14th
centuries the monarchy had organized a species of inspection
(_chevauchee_) over the provincial functionaries, which was performed by
the _maitres des requetes_, and this the reform ordinances of the 16th
century sought to revive. This inspectorate passed to the _intendant_,
who became the resident local inspector and supervisor of all the other
functionaries in his district; its connexion with the old _chevauchee_
is plainly shown by the fact that the intendants were almost invariably
selected from the _maitres des requetes_. The early intendants had
naturally been largely concerned with the troops; eventually special
military intendants (the only ones that exist in modern French law) were
created, but the _intendants des provinces_ retained certain military
duties, notably those relating to the housing of the troops.
The early intendants were called indifferently _intendants de justice_
or _intendants de finances_, their full official title being _intendants
de justice, police et finances, et commissaires, departis dans les
generalites du royaume pour l'execution des ordres de Sa Majeste_. This
title shows the wide range of their duties, the word "_police_" in this
connexion connoting general administration. Not being officers of the
king, but merely commissaries, they could always be recalled, and their
powers were fixed by the commission they received from the king. As
their functions became pre-eminently administrative the laws of the 17th
and 18th centuries referred many questions to their decision, and, in
this respect, their powers were determined by law. They became the
direct general representatives of the king in each _generalite_, with
authority over the other officials, whom they were empowered to censure,
suspend or sometimes even replace. They were in constant touch with the
king's council, with which they were connected by their original rights
as _maitres des requetes_. In the first half of the 17th century they
encountered some opposition from the governors of provinces, who had
formerly been the direct political representatives of the crown, and
also from the parliaments, which traditionally intervened in the
administration, especially by means of _arrets de reglement_ (decisions,
from which there was no appeal, regulating questions of procedure, civil
law or custom). The intendants, however, were energetically supported,
and so complete was their triumph that in the 18th century governors of
provinces could not enter upon their duties without formal _lettres de
residence_.
The intendants had wide powers in the drawing by lot of the militia and
in the royal _corvees_ for the making and repair of the high roads, and
were largely concerned with the administration of the _taille_, in which
they effected useful reforms. They were the sole administrators of the
principal direct and indirect imposts created in the second half of the
17th century and in the 18th century, and had full powers to settle
disputes arising out of these taxes. Owing to the vast size of the
districts allotted to the intendants (there were no more than thirty-two
intendants in 1788), they often felt the need of assistants. As
commissaries of the king, they could delegate their powers to
_sub-delegues_, who were, however, not royal officials, but merely
mandatories of the intendant. Decisions of the intendant could be
carried to the king's council, and those of the _sub-delegue_ to the
intendant.
See Gabriel Hanotaux, _Origines de l'institution des intendants des
provinces_ (1884); D'Arbois de Jubainville, _L'Administration des
intendants d'apres les archives de l'Aube_ (1880); P. Ardascheff,
_Provintzalnaya administratsiya vo Frantsii ve poshednoyo porou
starago poryadka: provintsialny Intendanty_ (St Petersburg,
1900-1906). (J. P. E.)